Our Passover Lamb

God brings ten plagues against the nation of Egypt because Pharaoh would not let God’s people, the Israelites, leave Egypt. In Exodus 12 the last plague is unleashed upon Egypt. The last plague is the death of the first born. The Israelites are saved from this plague if they follow the instructions that God gives them.

This is when God establishes the Passover.

The Passover celebrates God’s miraculous deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt. The focal point of the ceremony was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb whose blood was placed on the doorframes of the houses of the Israelites. While God enacted this final plague, the Israelites in the homes with the blood of the lamb on them were spared from the death of their first born.

God gave the Israelites clear specifications for the lamb that could be used at Passover – the lamb had to a young male, without any blemish or defect. In order to ensure its purity, the lamb was examined for a time following its selection. Those animals meeting God’s requirements were sacrificed in public, and none of the animal’s bones could be broken.

Exodus 12:46

It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.

The severity of the coming judgment required that the people of God observe this sacrifice with the utmost care. The annual commemoration of the Passover reminded the people both of the faithfulness of God to provide deliverance for His people and of their ongoing need for a substitute to pay the price their sin deserved.

The Passover sacrifice is a clear picture in the Old Testament of the coming work of Jesus.

At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing Jesus as our Savior who died as a sacrifice for our sin.

Jesus’ life met the requirements for a Passover sacrifice.

Jesus was a young male.

Jesus was perfect in all His ways.

1 Peter 2:22

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.

Jesus died a heinous, public death.

Mark 15:20

And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.

Jesus’ bones were not broken in the crucifixion.

John 19:36

These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”

Jesus’ death and the shedding of His blood brought us salvation and spare us from the coming judgment.

Romans 5:9

Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!

Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Jesus fulfills the divine image of the Passover lamb.

1 Peter 1:19

But with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Jesus’ perfect purity and substitutionary death uniquely qualified Him to be the Savior. As the one and only Son of God, He could do what no one or nothing else could ever do – He could eternally satisfy God’s wrath against sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is receiving Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sin.

There is one difference between the Passover lamb of the Old Testament and our Passover lamb, Jesus. The difference is that the lamb had no choice in being the sacrifice. Jesus chose to be our sacrifice.

With Jesus as the Atoning Sacrifice, Raising the Roof and

Removing the Walls,

                                                     Joe

Jesus: I Am

Moses had fled from Egypt for killing an Egyptian. He had married the daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian. One day as Moses was watching his father-in-law’s sheep, he saw a bush that was burning but not being consumed by the fire. He approached the bush and God spoke to him. God tells Moses that He is going to use him to bring His people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses makes several excuses not to go back to Egypt to lead God’s people to freedom.

One of Moses’ excuses is “What if the Israelites ask who sent him? What would he tell them about who had sent him to lead them to freedom?”

In Exodus 3:14 God says to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.”

God reveals that His covenant name is I Am.

In John, Jesus makes seven statements referring to Himself as I Am. These statements are to show us what, as the I Am, Jesus is and thus who He is in our lives.

John 6:35

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:48

I am the Bread of Life.

John 6:51

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I gave for the life of the world.

Jesus: I Am the Bread of Life

Jesus as the Bread of Life is the basic sustenance of life. Jesus gives us life and sustains our lives.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is receiving Jesus as the thing you need for life.

 

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 9:5

While I am in the world, I am the Light of the World.

Jesus: I Am the Light of the World

Jesus as the Light of the World illuminates our world so that we don’t walk in darkness. Walking in darkness means we are moving away from Jesus and not really seeing where we are going.

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son purifies us from all sin. 

But as we walk with Jesus as the Light of the World, we enjoy fellowship with other followers of Jesus and are purified from any residue of sin.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is living our lives with Jesus as our Light illuminating the direction of our lives and cleansing sin out of our lives.

John 10:7

Therefore, Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”

John 10:9

I am the gate, whoever enters through Me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Jesus: I Am the gate or door

Jesus is the entrance into forgiveness and eternal life.

There is no other way to experience forgiveness for sin but Jesus.

There is no other way to have eternal life but Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing forgiveness of sin and receiving eternal life through Jesus.

John 10:11

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:14

I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me.

Jesus: I Am the Good Shepherd.

Jesus as the good shepherd does for us what a shepherd does for his sheep.

He protects us.

He provides for us.

He guides us.

He disciplines us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing Jesus to protect us, provide for us, guide us, and discipline us.

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die.”

Jesus: I Am the Resurrection and the Life.

Jesus as the resurrection and the life gives us eternal life that allows us to live eternally after our earthly life is over.

The picture of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is what Jesus does for us by giving eternal life with Him in heaven after our earthly life. 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is receiving Jesus as our Savior and then receiving His eternal life that He secured for us on the cross.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus: I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life.

Jesus as the way is the way or model for how we are to live and the way to heaven for us.

Jesus as the truth is the source of all truth.

Jesus as the life is the source of our physical and spiritual life.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is surrendering our lives to Jesus and experiencing Him as our way to live, the truth that we are to live our lives based on, and the source of our lives.

John 15:1

I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener.

Jesus: I Am the True Vine.

Jesus as the true vine provides us with what we need to really live and produce works that draws others to God.

We as the branches produce the fruit and the vine gives us all that we need to accomplish that.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having Jesus as the true source of our lives.

With the I Am, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                         Joe

Grace From the Beginning

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:17

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The law was given by God to show us as humans what His character was like and what He demands from His followers. The law shows us we cannot follow it as God demands and that the law cannot save us.

Jesus came to become our atoning sacrifice and, through His sacrifice, move us from law to grace. It is God’s grace given to us through Jesus’ sacrifice and applied to our lives by the Holy Spirit that brings salvation and provides all we need to be in right relationship with God.

This truth does not mean that grace has not been in operation since the very beginning.

There are four beautiful pictures of grace in the book of Genesis.

The first is picture is seen in how God treats Adam and Eve after they had sinned.

First, God seeks Adam and Eve. They sinned and hid but God sought them out.

Second, God made clothes for them out of animal skins which means that He had to sacrifice animals to make those skins. We are told that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. God, out of grace, makes a sacrifice for Adam and Eve’s sin.

Third, God placed an angel with a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life. God didn’t do this to punish Adam and Eve but to keep them from living for eternity in separation from and opposition with God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God’s grace of saving us and reconciling us to Himself.

The second picture is seen in the life of Abraham.

Twice in Abraham’s life, he shows a huge lack of trust in God.

The first is found in Genesis 12 when Abraham goes down to Egypt because of a famine in the land where he was living. When Abraham and Sarah go to Egypt, Abraham asked her to tell the people that she was his sister. This almost caused Sarah to become one of Pharaoh’s wives. God intervened and didn’t allow that to happen. God also used this situation to add to Abraham’s wealth.

The second is found in Genesis 20. Abraham was traveling through a region ruled by Abimelek king of Gerar. Abraham again told people that Sarah was sister. It was again to protect himself, showing that he did not trust God to protect him as God had promised. God again intervened and protected Abraham and enriched him.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing that God’s grace not only saves us but also protects us even when the situation develops from our sinful decisions.

The third picture is seen when Jacob and Esau meet again when Jacob returns to Canaan. When Jacob left home, it was because Esau wanted to kill Jacob for stealing his birthright and his blessing.

In Genesis 33 when the brothers meet, Esau greeted Jacob by embracing him and kissed him. He welcomed him back as a brother. Esau had every reason to hate Jacob but showed love and acceptance instead.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God’s grace by Him accepting and loving you in spite of your sin and failure.

The fourth picture is found in Genesis 50.

After Jacob brought his family to Egypt, he died. After his death Joseph’s brothers were fearful that Joseph would take revenge on them for what they had done to him.

In Genesis 50:19-21 Joseph says to his brothers, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he assured them and spoke kindly to them.”

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the provision of God in every and all situations.

Grace is not a concept that God came up with as a plan B or out of desperation when the His first plan didn’t work.

Grace is who God is and is the foundation of how God relates to us as humans.

God’s grace saves.

God’s grace reconciles.

God’s grace provides.

In and By God’s Grace, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                 Joe

Jesus and His Bride

In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his chief servant back to the land of his relatives to find a wife for his son, Isaac. When the servant gets to the land of Abraham’s relatives, he prays for God to lead him to the women who God would have for a wife for Isaac. God answers his prayer and leads him to encounter Rebekah.

The servant goes to stay in the home of Rebekah’s family. He shares with her family the reason for his visit and tells them that Rebekah is the one God has selected for Isaac’s wife.

Rebekah agrees to go back with the servant and become Isaac’s wife.

In this story we have a picture of God’s relationship to the church.

Three times in the book of Revelation, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ.

The comparison of Rebekah becoming Isaac’s bride and the church becoming Jesus’ bride reveal some truths about our relationship with Jesus.

The church was created by God to be the bride of Christ just as Rebekah was created by God to be Isaac’s bride.

Because we were created to be Jesus’ bride, that means that nothing else will satisfy us the way Jesus does.

We tend to look to things like:

People

Success

Possessions

Money

Comfort

Acceptance

Romance

Family

Power

A Cause

to give our lives meaning.

They can’t because none of those things are the bridegroom.

God planned for Isaac and Rebekah to marry each other and be used by Him to be part of the process that brought the Messiah into the world. God planned for the church to marry Jesus and be the instrument that He uses to change the world.

It is not just about finding the bridegroom; it is about marrying the bridegroom.

We marry Jesus by joining every part of our life with Him.

We join our:

Heart

Soul

Wounds

Longings

Desires

with Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is joining all of your life to Jesus.

Abraham’s servant went and sought out the bride, Rebekah. The servant gave gifts to Rebekah and her family to draw her to Isaac.

God sought us out. God through His Spirit wooed us and drew us to Jesus.

The bridegroom seeks out the bride, and the bride simply opens herself up to the bridegroom.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is us opening ourselves up to Jesus.

There was a waiting time between the betrothal period and the wedding ceremony. That was the time for the bride to prepare herself to be married to the bridegroom.

Rebekah had the trip to Canaan to prepare herself. We as the church have been betrothed or promised to the bridegroom, but the wedding ceremony has not taken place yet.

But we have been changed. Things around us may look the same and feel the same. We are in the world but not of the world. We no longer belong to our circumstances, or our past, or our sins, or our limitations. We now belong to Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about belonging to Jesus and being free.

When Abraham’s servant told Rebekah’s family it was time for him to take Rebekah to Isaac, they tried to delay his leaving. When they asked Rebekah, she was willing to go right then.

When we commit to marrying Jesus, open ourselves up to Him completely, and see ourselves as belong to Him, we then focus on Him and not what we are leaving behind.

Just as Rebekah left her family, we have to leave things and values of this world and take the things of God and what He values.

We are to no longer look on this world as our home but look to our eternal home with our bridegroom, Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is focusing on Jesus and nothing else.

Genesis 24 gives us a beautiful picture of the bridegroom seeking His bride and of the bride saying yes and giving herself completely to the bridegroom.

As the Bride of Christ, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                  Joe

The Sacrifice

In Genesis 22 we read the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

In this story we have a picture of the crucifixion of Jesus.

In this story, God puts Abraham to the test by asking him to do something unthinkable. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son of the promise, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Abraham had another son, Ishmael, but Isaac was the son that all of God’s promises were to come through.

Isaac represented the continuation of all the promises God had given to Abraham to bless all the earth through Abraham’s descendants. Everything about Isaac’s life was the result of God’s supernatural plan and provision.

God did what was humanly impossible by enabling Sarah at 90 years old to have a child.

In spite of all that Isaac represented, God was asking Abraham to surrender his beloved son.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is surrendering our will to God’s will and being willing to trust God with everything in our lives.

In this story we see the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son according to God’s will.

Genesis 22:2-3

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

God also was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Genesis 22:6

Abraham took the wood for the brunt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.

Abraham had Isaac carry the wood on which he would be laid to be the burnt offering.

John 19:17

Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).

God the Father placed the wooden cross, the instrument of Jesus’ sacrifice, on Him.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging and receiving Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sin.

In this story was also see the faith we need to receive Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin.

Genesis 22:5

He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

Abraham expresses faith that after they had gone and worshiped God, he and Isaac would come back. Abraham was not saying this just to appease his servants or to trick Isaac. He was saying this based on his faith in God.

Genesis 22:7-8

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Again, Abraham expressed his faith in God’s plan. Abraham didn’t fully understand all the details of God’s plan, but he trusted God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God in His plan for our salvation and our lives.

Then we see God’s gracious provision.

Abraham tied Isaac to the altar and was about to plunge the knife into him when the angel of the Lord called out to Abraham.

Genesis 22:12-13

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

God saw that Abraham had faith in God, His will, and His plan and so in His grace He provided a ram in place of Isaac for the burnt offering.

In God’s grace He provided a sacrifice for us in His Son, Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is God gracious gift of His Son, Jesus.

Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin is not an after thought of God or plan B. Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin was part of the Father’s plan from the very beginning.

Rejoicing in Jesus’ Sacrifice, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                       Joe

Gratitude Not Entitlement

I just returned from Mexico and spending four days there handing out Samaritan’s Purse Christmas boxes. Jan and I, like many of you, have for years packed shoe boxes. It as an awesome experience to actually be part of giving shoe boxes to the kids.

While we were there, God spoke to me about my attitude.

I don’t mind God dealing with me about my language or my behavior because those are seen by others and I want them to see truly see Jesus in what I say and how I act. But I really want my attitudes and thoughts to be mine. God however, purchased all of me on the cross. He has a right to correct my words, actions, attitudes, and thoughts.

We went to three different communities in Mexico. The third one was a very small village. The streets were all dirt. There was water in the streets from bathrooms because there is no sewer system. The building we did the outreach in was dark and dirty. This was a village where most of us as Americans would not have lived.

I saw on the faces and heard in the words of these people joy.

I ask myself how these people can be joyful living in these conditions. Some would say it is all they know, so since they have only known this, it is ok to them. I believe in Greek there is a word for that: “baloney!”

I believe God showed me a huge spiritual truth as I watched these children get so excited about the shoe boxes. 

In Exodus and Numbers, it says that the people of Israel grumbled about things they thought were bad. They grumbled against God.

Now here were people who God had delivered out of slavery. He had provided for them by giving them manna every day. He had provided water out of a rock. He had protected them from more powerful people groups.

And their response was gratitude? No, their response was grumbling and whining.

God wants gratitude from His people.

God used two passages to show me some truths that I want to incorporate into my life and into the life of my faith family.

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all these without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

1 Peter 4:9-10

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another; as good stewards of God’s grace.

The truths are:

●Gratitude, Not Grumbling

Gratitude shows our submission to God.

Grumbling shows that we still want to be in control.

● Righteousness, Not Perversion

Righteousness shows that we are looking more and more like Jesus.

Perversion shows that we are looking more and more like the people we complain about.

● Light, Not Darkness

Light shows that we are walking with God.

Darkness shows that we are walking away from God.

● Based on God’s Word, Not the Values of This World

Living based on God’s Word shows that we are a supernatural creation of God.

Living based on the values of this world shows that we are just part of this natural temporary world.

● Purpose, Not Purposelessness

Purpose shows I exist for something bigger than me.

Purposelessness shows I exist for only me.

● Hospitality, Not Selfishness

Hospitality shows love for others.

Selfishness shows only love for myself.

● Grace, Not Condemnation

Grace shows Jesus.

Condemnation shows everything that is not Jesus.

One of the things I saw in the people of Mexico and in the followers of Jesus in Mexico was true humility. They did not feel entitled. That humility is allowing God to use them to impact their country.

We as Jesus’ followers need an attitude of gratitude and a spirit of humility. We have to get rid of the entitlement attitude.

One last note: The people of Mexico are pictured by some to all be drug running criminals. The people I encountered were people who were truly seeking God.

Without Grumbling, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                              Joe    

In the Beginning: Jesus

The Bible is the story of God redeeming fallen humanity by grace through the sending of His Son Jesus.

The main character through all the Bible is Jesus. The Old Testament is looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The New Testament is looking at the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and then Jesus working through His body, the church.

From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, Jesus is the focus.

I want to walk through the Bible and show how in each book Jesus is pictured.

Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be light.”

God brings light into darkness. That is a recurring theme throughout the Bible and it all begins here.

God creates by His spoken word.

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that was made.

Jesus is the Word of God. Creation was done by the Word of God.

The first thing that was created was light.

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus is the Light of the World. God shows us at the very beginning of creation that light is necessary for real life and that light is found in Jesus.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth about what God’s has done in their lives through shining His light into their lives.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Jesus as our Light gives us knowledge and understanding of the presence God in our lives. He extols the Father in our lives.

Light represents the glory or presence of God and the salvation that God provides for us. This is all expressed in the person of Jesus.

Jesus is the exact representation of God, and He revealed God to a world sitting in spiritual darkness. Those who trust in Jesus are brought from the darkness of sin and the guilt of that sin into God’s light. In the light of Jesus there is joy, peace, and hope forever.

In the end, there will be no more darkness. The light of God’s glory will shine brightly in God’s eternal kingdom.

Revelation 21:23

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says that we as His followers are the light of the world. Jesus as the Light of the World shines through us as the Holy Spirit fills us.

Philippians 2:14-16a

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

We as followers of Jesus are the light of the world. We as people of the light are to shine as stars in the night sky. We do that by living our lives by the power of God’s Spirit based on the truth of the Word of God.

From the very beginning God the Father knew that is was only through His light that we as His human creation would be able to live. Knowing that truth, God sent us the Light of the World, His Son, Jesus.

Jesus warns us in John 9 of the dangers of not walking in God’s light.

John 9:4-5

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

We can only do the works of God in the light of His presence.

We can only do the works of God as we stay connected with the Light of the World, Jesus.

In the Light as Jesus is in the Light, Raising the Roof

And Removing the Walls,

Joe